There are a number of changes to the side that lost first-up in the new season to Cardiff Rugby last weekend.
The Lions will welcome back key No 8 Francke Horn and flyhalf Chris Smith for their second round United Rugby Championship clash against Zebre in Parma on Sunday, with kick-off at 4pm.
Horn (calf) has been on the injured list for some time but returns to bolster the side this week, while Smith, who joined the Lions in the off-season, was concussed in the Currie Cup final loss to Griquas.
Wing Eduan Keyter, who made a name for himself at Griquas before joining the Sharks, is also in line to make his Lions debut on Sunday.
Coach Ivan van Rooyen has also included the exciting flanker Renzo du Plessis in his team, while RF Schoeman starts at tighthead prop in place of Asenathi Ntlabakanye. Etienne Oosthuizen also gets a start in the second row.
‘Minimise mistakes’
Assistant coach Barend Pieterse this week spoke about the Lions needing to cut down on their error rate if they’re to have a chance of picking up a win in Italy.
“The talk for us this week was obviously to minimise our mistakes,” Pieterse said. “A lot of the errors we made are on us. We spoke about getting off the line in defence and being more physical in contact. That was a harsh conversation with the players, but it was needed,” he explained.
The Lions lost their competition opener to Cardiff Rugby last weekend.
Pieterse added: “Zebre are a team that’s improved significantly over the past few years. It’s not just about guts anymore, they’ve got a good system and coaches, and you can see they’re well drilled,” he said.
“They’ve got dangerous attackers and a good backline. If we make the game too loose, they’ll be very dangerous.”
Lions: Quan Horn, Eduan Keyter, Henco van Wyk, Richard Kriel, Angelo Davids, Chris Smith, Nico Steyn, Francke Horn, Ruan Venter, Renzi du Plessis, Ruan Delport, Etienne Oosthuizen, RF Schoeman, Franco Marais, SJ Kotze. Bench: Morne Brandon, Heiko Pohlmann, ASenathi Ntlabakanye, Darrien Landsberg, WJ Steenkamp, Haashim Pead, Lubabalo Dobela, Rynhardt Jonker
